The Trio Broken
by Romulan Empress
Summary: [WIP] Sequel to Attack of the Trekkie Trio. Our favorite teenagers are back as adults this time! The members of the Trio with their own ships how will the universe survive? R&R please!
1. The Trio: The Return

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek and am making no money off this. T'Son and Qwi own themselves and anything that belongs to them. I own myself, this story, and anything that belongs to me, like chocolate. ILuvHawkeye owns Destination: Unknown and MASH 4077 Meets the Trio.

At last, the long awaited sequel to **Attack of the Trekkie Trio**. If you have not read that, do not read this. The trio you know from Attack of the Trekkie Trio, Destination: Unknown, and MASH 4077 Meets the Trio is back, twenty-six years old and ruling the universe! Well, the Alpha and Beta Quadrants anyway. R&R please!

Over a decade had passed since the infamous, er... famous, Trekkie Trio was whisked into the future by a rather fortunate phone call. Much had changed in the many years, including happy things, like graduations from Starfleet Academy, and sad things, like the breaking of the Trio.

After the Mirror, Mirror fiasco, things got back to normal, or as normal as they could be on the starship Enterprise with the Trekkie Trio onboard. Qwi had learned enough about the Trek universe to actually be somewhat a challenge to Toreth in Star Trek Trivia, though neither of them could ever best T'Son. They still did things together and had fun. However, their friendships suffered.

T'Son and Toreth ended up going out for a short time when they were both fifteen, but the truth was that they were not really interested in each other anymore. T'Son and Qwi remained at odds. Toreth herself seemed to be more and more distant from everyone, spending long periods of time locked up in her quarters with only the computer for company. They each had their own quarters by this point. Then finally, when they were sixteen, the Trio shattered.

Toreth disappeared. After a few hours, her friends noticed. They discovered she was not on board, and that all her possessions were gone. A shuttle was missing too. They assumed she had just gone for a ride, for fun, but she never came back. At last, Starfleet marked her as dead. They said she never could have survived in a shuttle alone, so far from known civilization. Only T'Son, Qwi, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy believed she was still alive out there... somewhere.

Without Toreth, T'Son and Qwi really had no reason to associate. They had only hung out together in the first place because they carpooled to school in first and second grade (for Qwi). After that, it was because T'Son was one of the three or so people she recognized after coming to a new school. After that, they started fighting, and it was only because they both we were best friends with Toreth, that they hung out.

T'Son, as expected, went to Starfleet Academy and passed in three years because of his Trek knowledge. Almost immediately, he was given the rank of lieutenant. T'Son quickly became a favorite of the admirals and other Powers That Be, and by the time he was twenty-six, he was a commodore and in command of the prototype Excelsior-like ship he had dubbed the USS Royale. Since Toreth was not around to call him egocentric and the ship _was _of his own design, he dubbed it the new Nathan-class. Of course, he had forgotten that Qwi could still send him a subspace message berating him about it.

Qwi herself went farther than anyone, particularly T'Son, thought she would. To everyone's surprise, she entered Starfleet Academy, and passed the normal four years there with above average marks. Upon graduation, she was given much the same treatment as T'Son, though still not as much. Trust T'Son to always take the spotlight. However, by the time she was twenty-six, she held the rank of captain and was in command of the Asia-class starship she had modified a bit, the USS Hawkeye. She had named it after her favorite character in the ancient show MASH.

And what became of Toreth? As her friends had suspected, she had not died. Instead, she was simply a runaway, going to join her people. Toreth arrived at Romulus quietly and worked her way up quickly by pulling all the strings she could pull. When she was twenty-six, she held the rank of Commander in the Romulan Imperial Fleet and was chairman of the Tal Shiar. Not only that, but using her influence, she had managed to do one of the things she had been threatening to do since arriving there and started a war that involved all the major powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.

The United Federation of Planets, the Romulan Star Empire, the Klingon Empire, the Cardassian Union, the Ferengi Alliance, and several others were making starships, patrolling borders and getting in "skirmishes"... all because Toreth had subtly manipulated things from her warbird, an Imperatrice-class she had invented that was extremely similar to the TNG era warbird. It was called the RIW Kaleh.

Believe it or not, Toreth had not really meant to start a dual-quadrant-wide war. She had only wanted to turn a few enemies against one another, dispatch of a few enemies herself, and in general bring the RSE glory and territory. The war itself did not turn out to be a bad thing though, because under her futuristic directives, the Romulan Star Empire was far more advanced than its neighbors. Even Qwi and T'Son had not dared mess the timeline up as badly as she had.

At the present date, Toreth was who-knew-where, again, and T'Son and Qwi were at the edge of the Neutral Zone. T'Son had just been given command of all starships along the Neutral Zone, and the Hawkeye was one of the ships in his fleet. He did not know it yet though, as he had barely glanced at the list of ships under his command. Qwi did not know it yet either.

Despite the fact that their Trio was broken, it was not like the three were friendless. T'Son was extremely good friends with the EMH he had designed, Gail Baeliss, who was based on Toreth's mother, and his chief of security, a human named Logan Runne. Also, he did not know it, but his Betazoid counselor, the only counselor on a starship in that day, Elaina Darkeir, was in love with him.

As for Qwi, she was now best friends with her chief engineer, a human named Lilac Egypt and her husband, Clayton Egypt. She had backed out of the romance scene for a little bit, having had three boyfriends in Starfleet Academy and she was tired of it.

Toreth was not exactly the type of person to open herself to people, and as a result, she had only one friend. He was he second-in-command on the Kaleh and a high-ranking officer in the Tal Shiar. However, he was all she needed, for they were the best of friends possible and closer than a couple. His name was Vokar.

By the old Earth calendar, it was the holiday of Christmas. On the starships, so far from seasonal changes and celebratory events all the time, not many remembered. T'Son, however, had grown up celebrating Christmas. He remembered. He had exchanged gifts with Gail and Logan, and replicated a miniature pine tree to sit on the table in his quarters, but that was it. He had to spend all of Christmas in a meeting with the captains of the ship now under his command. They were bound to have silly ideas and it promised to be extremely boring.

The first round of captains beamed in using his special 9-person transporter pad. He greeted them all, as did the first officer of the Royale, not really seeing any of them. Security officers would lead them to a conference room and he would be talking with them again soon enough. However, in the second round, one human female beamed in on a back pad. He did not see her at first, because others were on the front pads, but when he did, he stopped short in the middle of shaking a Trill's hand.

'It cannot be! What an awful Christmas present!' he thought to himself. For standing on that back pad was none other than Qwi.

Qwi was not having a good day. It was Christmas, and she had no one to celebrate with. Clay and Lilac were Jewish. They had given her a present, knowing about the Christian tradition, but it was not the same. And not enough crewmembers had been interested in her idea of replicating a bunch of snow and having a ship-wide snowball fight in one of the shuttle bays.

On top of all that, she had to spend the entire day in a conference with a bunch of other captains and the commodore leading their fleet. Probably some corrupt power-mad imbecile who had no idea how to defeat the Romulans anyway. Qwi herself probably knew more about them, having been best friends with one for several years. Some days, she did not know why she had bothered to join Starfleet.

Qwi grumbled a little bit as she stepped onto the transporter pad, but she had no idea how much worse her day was going to get. She beamed over to the commodore's starship, whatever it was called. A bunch of other captains were in her way, but she was used to waiting out of the spotlight. Stupid lucky T'Son and Toreth. And speak of the devil...

"T'Son?"

"Qwi? What are you doing here? This is my ship!"

"No worries; I am no happier to be here than you," Qwi said dryly. "Unfortunately, I just had to get a stupid assignment that put me under your command! Why did I ever join Starfleet?"

"You're under my command?" T'Son asked, suddenly looking considerably happier.

"Oh no. Oh, no! I-"

"Excuse me, Commodore?" one of the other captains asked. T'Son looked awkwardly at him.

"Er... Number One, could you deal with these good people for a moment? I have a slight... problem," he asked awkwardly. The commander nodded and T'Son shoved Qwi into a room that was empty.

"Well, all we need is Toreth and we can have a big, happy reunion," Qwi muttered.

"Happy? Whatever. Listen: I am not going to order you to commit suicide or anything beyond the Romulan border. All I ask is that you keep your ship at the far end of the border, with you on it."

"That sounds wonderful. Now I only have to interact with you over subspace for progress reports. Too bad you can't kill someone over subspace..." Qwi sighed, lovely thoughts of death dancing like butterflies through her head.

Of course, T'Son's song was a liar. The best was not yet to come, for either of them. When they finally got to the conference room, taking seats at opposite ends of the table, one of the other captains leaned over and asked in a whisper, "Lover's spat?"

"I am not in love with T'Son! Even in the twenty-third century, is that all two people go into a deserted room for? I hate T'Son!" Qwi whispered angrily back. This was indeed proven to the poor, bewildered captains, as the entire meeting was basically T'Son and Qwi arguing about the best course of action. T'Son had proposed that he take the flagship (his ship) into Romulan territory while the others continued to patrol the border like normal.

"Are you out of your mind?" Qwi asked, though she already knew the answer. "If you want to get yourself killed, I would be only too happy. But if you are going to bring the Federation down with you, then no. The Romulans do not need an excuse to launch a full-blown attack, possibly on Earth itself! What would you do if you did get captured, expect them to grant a request to talk to... you-know-who... and she could bail you out? I highly doubt she would even remember you."

"Qwi, surprisingly logical as your argument is, this ship has a few advantages that you do not know about, simply because you were the least member of the Trekkie Trio." Qwi clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes at the slight. "And I do not need... some person... to help me because I am not going to get captured. We need information, badly. My ship has superior sensors that will be able to detect a cloaked ship." Being the highest ranking person, T'Son, of course, won. He saw the other captains off and breathed an enormous sigh of relief when Qwi was gone. Then he made his way back to the bridge to prepare for his mission.


	2. Not Such a Big, Happy Reunion

ILuvHawkeye: I am glad you love it. I did put character descriptions in here, just for you. And really... were the millions of e-mails telling me to update truly necessary? It has only been two or so days. :)

T'Son: Thanks!

Data: Thank you. I should hope that I have improved- it would be dreadful to write this much and not! By the way, Rachel is one if you are the one who left the review signed "professor" on her story, whichever one it was. Were you?

This chapter is a bit of a less funny chapter, but do not worry, I will try to keep my "humor" genre, though I am better at writing serious things. I am also sorry if Toreth seems cruel and evil the entire chapter, but she _is_ a Romulan and the Chairman of the Tal Shiar. I do not care if you flame me- please review!

Toreth, Chairman of the Tal Shiar, flopped back on her bed and grinned up at the ceiling. She was having a wonderful day. Vokar had remembered that it was Christmas and had bought her a most lovely pair of earrings. The war was still favoring Romulus by far, and no one was being _too_ annoying or incompetent. But then, this was a higher race than the humans who could never live up to her expectations.

Everyone on her warbird was completely loyal to her. However, there were some secrets no one could know. One of those was her origins. She did not dare say that she was once a human and in the United Federation of Planets. Only Vokar knew that. Only Vokar ever would. Her past life was unimportant, and could never mix with her present life anymore.

This Christmas was spent patrolling the far side of what the silly Federation members called the Romulan Neutral Zone. They were cloaked, of course, and these pitiful starships could not detect her twenty-fourth century cloaked ship with their twenty-third century sensors. All in all, it was rather boring. That was okay though. Boredom suited her. As Chairman of the Empire's intelligence organization, one of the best of the galaxy, she had plenty to do.

A chime ran through her quarters and Toreth quickly stood up and walked out into the main room of her quarters. At her word, the door slid open to reveal Vokar. He was tall, with slightly wavy dark hair cut a bit shorter than the traditional Romulan style, and very dark brown eyes.

"Oh, it's just you, Vokar," Toreth said, relaxing a bit. "Come in."

"What do you mean 'just you'?" Vokar asked, a teasing hint of a smile forming on his face.

"Oh shut up," Toreth said. "I mean you are the only person I can completely relax around... almost completely. I did read the Voyager: Dark Matters trilogy after all." Vokar did not respond, as he was used to enigmatic comments of that nature. "That is not important though. What's happening?"

"Well, some Federation idiot managed to get past our patrols and is headed towards Romulus. I have to admit- he is good."

"Then obviously he is not so much of an idiot, now is he? I suppose I had better get up to the bridge and capture his ship and crew. Who knows how advanced these Starfleet ships are with T'Son over there?" Toreth said and strode out, Vokar at her side.

Upon reaching the bridge, Toreth ordered a report. What ship was that, and did it pose any threat?

"It is the USS Royale, sir. The idiots in the Federation have sent their flagship out here. It is as good as an invitation to attack their heart, Earth," a random officer said. Toreth grew pale.

"It cannot be him," she whispered, too softly for anyone to hear. He had no right to mess with her life now that it was perfect. She would have to show him that. How dare he come here!? It was just like him too. "Thank you, now take us to Red Alert, station our ship directly in front of him, and decloak."

The Romulan patrols had been hard to get by. However, T'Son had not learned nothing from all his years of watching Star Trek. He had managed to get in and was now heading to Romulus and praying that he would get out of this alive. Despite what he had told Qwi, T'Son was very nervous about this venture. No sane person would not be. Of course, he could not let that show, because he was Vulcan and because he had argued so forcibly to do this.

Suddenly, without warning, a Romulan ship decloaked directly in front of him. He closed his eyes in horror. It was similar to a TNG warbird and he had not even come close to detecting it with his sensors. Apparently Toreth had gotten to some place of influence and had been busy. He went to Red Alert, although he was relatively sure he did not stand a chance. All his glorious dreams of the future...

"Sir, they are not attacking," a puzzled voice broke into his thoughts.

"What!?" T'Son asked, but it was true. "Hail them..." The forward viewscreen filled with a warbird bridge. In the center stood a woman. She had the typical pointed ears of her species, but she was by no means normal. Silver eyes flashed in a mix of emotions and her black hair, instead of being cut short like most Romulans, was in a braid that reached to the middle of her thighs.

"T'Son," was all she said, and no wonder. She looked like she was about to faint. He must have looked startling after all these years to her. His hair was black too, but unlike most Vulcans, it would not lie flat no matter what he did, or was twenty-third century gels he used. His eyes still were a hazel, though they no longer changed color like they did when he was human.

"Toreth?" he asked, just as speechless as her. The one thought that penetrated his mind was that he was safe. Toreth had recognized him, and thus remembered their old friendship. The Royale was not going to be cosmic dust after all.

"What in the name of the Empress are you doing here?" Toreth asked.

"I was going to do some scientific research," T'Son said.

"That's what they all say. I suggest you do it on your side of the border. The RIW Kaleh will escort you back." Assuming that was the name of her warbird, T'Son nodded, cut the communication, and went to Green Alert again.

That was when the first disruptor sliced through his hull.

As soon as T'Son's face was off screen, a haughty smirk took up residence on her face.

"Fool," she sighed, which was her thought about the Federation in general. "Aim for weapons, shielding, propulsion, communications, basically make him dead in space. These coordinates might help." She typed in a few numbers and her tactical officer got to work. Toreth almost felt sorry for T'Son as she efficiently disabled his ship. He was not expecting anything, and thus was completely unable to retaliate. She had the survivors beamed to her brig, and left the bridge with Vokar.

"Was that the same T'Son you used to know?" he asked softly.

"Yes," she said, and that was all. As Chairman of the Tal Shiar, she did not have time for regrets or sympathy, but she had never betrayed a best friend before. Despite the fact that she did not even remember T'Son that well, for the last time she had seen him was ten years ago, she remembered their friendship. She thought back to her other best friend of the time, Qwi, and wondered how she was doing too. Was she even still alive?

"Are you going to go talk to him?" Vokar asked.

"I suppose I am obligated to..." she said uncertainly. Though efficient in her profession, social matters, even with her closest friends, had always been a strain.

"If you are not yet ready, I can talk to him first. What are friends for?"

"Thanks Vokar," Toreth said, and headed off to her quarters to get lost in boring, but soothing paperwork.

T'Son smiled bitterly as he sat in the Kaleh's brig. He supposed he should have expected Toreth to act the friend and then turn on him, like any duplicitous Romulan. However, she had always felt very strongly about betrayal. She despised it with all her heart. At least, she used to... He heard footsteps approaching and wondered if they were hers. They were not. A male Romulan came into view.

"You are T'Son of Vulcan?" the man half asked, half stated.

"Yes," T'Son answered, seeing no reason to lie. Obviously Toreth had told her crew who he was, and he thought he recognized this Romulan from the bridge.

"I am Subcommander Vokar, and close friend of the Chairman."

"Wait... Chairman?" T'Son asked, worry starting to creep through his Vulcan stoic ness. He had a bad feeling about Toreth.

"Yes, Chairman Toreth of the Tal Shiar," Vokar said, looking curiously at T'Son. "You did not know?"

"I was hardly in a position to receive news about the political positions of my enemies," T'Son said dryly. "Could I speak to... the Chairman?"

"She does not want to see you right now," Vokar answered flatly, making no effort to soften the blow. T'Son nodded, wondering why. He would have thought that she would either want to gloat or ask his forgiveness.

"And the Royale?" T'Son asked, suddenly fearing for his ship. "My crew?"

"Your crew is in the brig too, and your ship is in our tractor beam. Once we reach Romulus, your ship will be taken apart for study and you and your crew will be at the mercy of the Tal Shiar."

T'Son did not like those odds one bit.

Toreth opened a small, locked box she kept in a secret drawer under her bed and pulled out two ancient pictures. One was of two girls grinning at a mall camera booth, surrounded by a flame-like border. The other was printed off a primitive, ancient computer and was of a boy lying on his stomach on his bed with an interesting expression on his face. Their names were Stephanie, Rachel, and Nathan. Names Toreth had almost forgotten.

She sat down at her computer and pulled up a Starfleet personnel list. It was not difficult for the Tal Shiar to see such lists. She pulled up two names side by side. T'Son, Commodore and Qwi, Captain stared up at her from the screen. T'Son she had just re-met. But Qwi... wow, Qwi looked so different!

Her hair was still dark brown and should-length, but it hung very nicely. Her eyes were a lighter blue than Toreth knew, almost icy, but a warm ice, if such a thing was possible. However, the thing that that startled Toreth most was that she was, according to this, captain of the USS Hawkeye. That meant _Qwi_ was in _Starfleet_. Qwi had passed Starfleet Academy and advanced through the ranks almost as quickly as T'Son.

The thing that most surprised Toreth was that she looked at these pictures without any emotion whatsoever. T'Son and Qwi were people she did not know. Her only friend was named Vokar, and she needed no one else. Not that the Chairman was allowed to indulge in vanities like friendship in the first place. She found that she almost did not want her old friends back in her life. They were living reminders of her short time in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, a time she did not particularly want to remember. At this point in her life, she could give T'Son over to be interrogated about Federation war maneuvers and not care less.

"I really hate social life," she said out loud to no one in particular.


	3. The Trio Remeets

ILuvHawkeye: smirks Illogical being the key word. Is Tuesday morning, 8:20 your time good enough for a fast update? There is more you in this chapter, by the way.

Thank you to my ONE reviewer, ILuvHawkeye. Come on, people, where are you? R&**R**, please!

Two sets of feet were approaching this time. T'Son's Vulcan memory and hearing combined to tell him that Vokar was one of the people. He could not tell who the other one was, though he had suspicions. Those suspicions turned out to be correct when one of the most feared women in the Romulan Star Empire came into view. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, she was afraid.

"Come with us," Vokar said, lowering the forcefield. Toreth looked like she did not trust herself to speak. T'Son sighed and came up without a word. He supposed it should be an honor that the Chairman of the Tal Shiar wanted to talk to him in someplace more private than the brig, but truth be told, he was nervous too.

Toreth led them to her quarters, Vokar keeping a disruptor pointed at T'Son. Toreth entered and quickly shut the door and put an extra security shutout on it. She looked around the room nervously. This was the room in which she entertained guests who she had a special liking for... _almost_ like friendship. Vokar was by far the most frequent visitor, for often they would take a cup of Rooibos (specially imported from South Africa, Earth) tea and sit on the loveseat and talk about everything from Toreth's latest plan that could shatter worlds to arguing over who the best 3-D chess player was. Now she and Vokar sat there again, but T'Son was in the armchair next to them.

"Toreth," T'Son began, "I do not believe we should began these talks without one more person present. Qwi... Qwi deserves to be in on our reunion. May I...?" He gestured to the monitor on the table in front of them.

"Yes," Toreth said at last. She shoved T'Son out of the way and contacted Qwi herself. She did not trust T'Son. After all, she had been able to change so radically. Why should he not? The not-so-familiar-anymore face filled the small monitor and looked from T'Son to the two Romulans and back. At last, she smiled.

"I _told_ you you would be captured," she told T'Son with a grin.

"Qwi, allow me to reintroduce you to... to Commander Toreth of the Romulan warbird Kaleh, Chairman of the Tal Shiar," T'Son said hesitantly, very uncharacteristic for a Vulcan. But then, T'Son had never seriously bothered to act very Vulcan, not unless he was attempting to be annoying.

"Oh... my... goddess," Qwi breathed, leaning forward and talking a long look at Toreth. "I am _so_ darn psychic. Who is he? Friend? Boyfriend? Husband?"

"This is my first officer, Subcommander Vokar," Toreth said. "He is my best friend, but we are not a couple of any sort."

"Well, then, sorry, T'Son, I thought you were captured," Qwi said cheerfully. "I had not realized you actually did want a 'big, happy reunion.' Thanks for inviting me."

"This is not a 'big, happy reunion,'" Toreth said, eyes narrowing. "Commodore T'Son is a prisoner of the Romulan Tal Shiar for breaking treaties and crossing into what you call the Romulan Neutral Zone. He merely asked to be allowed to contact you, and for the sake of what the three of us once had, I allowed it." T'Son and Qwi both spoke at once.

"For the sake of what we once had? Toreth, are you saying you no longer care about us? You take your job way too seriously."

"I broke the treaty? You are in the Neutral Zone too, or did your _Romulan_ self not notice? I'd rather be in Ferengi hands."

"T'Son, the point is to not get caught. And Qwi, it will have been a decade since my leaving in two months. Do you honestly think that I would bother to remember two Federation people I thought I would never see again. I am not even in love with Spock anymore!" Qwi and T'Son both gasped. Toreth's love for Spock was legendary among the Trekkie Trio. She had done everything, from speaking of him as her one true love and future husband to making out with pictures of him printed off the internet. She might as well have suddenly sprouted tentacles out of her head (which in this future world was actually not all that farfetched).

"Who are you in love with now then?" Qwi asked.

"No one, actually," Toreth responded. "The Chairman of the Tal Shiar really does not have time for things like relationships. But enough about me. What about you two?"

"We already know everything about each other," Qwi complained. "You already know everything about the Federation. Tell us what being the center of the Romulan universe is like."

"Actually," Vokar cut in, "she is one of about four "centers of the Romulan universe. And to know everything about each other, you would have to be married." Toreth grinned at Vokar and then at the expressions on the faces of T'Son and Qwi.

"Never," Qwi breathed. "The closest I have _ever_ come was dating that one guy at the Academy named Daniel Derek Crown!"

"If any two members of the Trekkie Trio were to date, it would probably be Toreth and I, as Qwi and I have a hate/hate relationship," T'Son said.

"That was once upon a decade gone by, T'Son," Toreth said severely.

"Well at least one thing about you has not changed. You still speak in weird, flowery, poetic language," Qwi said.

"Actually, that is truer than you might realize," Vokar said. "She learned to write Romulan out of a very... graphic... love poem-" He was cut off as Toreth shot her hand out and half choked him.

"I was a sixteen-year-old girl, full of romantic notions that love might actually someday be a part of my life," she hissed. "I suppose next you are going to tell them that I like Britney Spears' music!"

"You do?" T'Son and Qwi asked together. They glared at each other, annoyed by their unwitting alliance.

"I always say the wrong thing while socializing," Toreth groaned, releasing Vokar and burying her faced in her hands.

"I cannot believe I let T'Son contact Qwi!" a furious Chairman cried as she paced. Somewhere on the other side of the warbird, a vase shattered. "Now I have to divert from Romulus and capture Qwi as well! She was all but asking to be captured and to see my warbird. Why do they have to come back into my life just when it is perfect!?"

"Toreth, I admit that this is an inconvenience-" Vokar began, but he could not say more before Toreth started ranting again. Vokar sighed. He truly loved his friend, but sometimes it was hard being the only one she could confide in. She had once vaguely mentioned some "honorary uncle" person she used to e-mail with problems when she was in the twenty-first century, and Vokar wished he were here right now. At last, exasperated, he took her by the arm as she went and stopped her restless moving.

"Toreth, you owe nothing to these people anymore. You left all sense of Federation obligation behind when you came to Romulus. Why get so worked up about a misplaced sense of loyalty?"

"Because, Vokar, I am not sure that it is misplaced. One of T'Son's greatest talents, perhaps the greatest, is turning me completely inside out emotionally, or at least it was when I was younger. I feel like I owe them something for running away and leaving them behind."

"You do not. When we get back to Romulus, you will see. You will be surrounded by Romulans, all of whom you said are much better than humans, and you will wonder how you ever thought to like this two. Besides, weren't you planning on a skiing trip in a few weeks?" At last, Toreth smiled. Vokar was right, of course.

"No, Vokar, _we_ were planning a skiing trip in a few weeks. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get some sleep. Unfortunately, even as a Romulan, I need sleep in order to think clearly. Good night."

"Good night," Vokar said, wondering why she bothered to use the Earth expression still. She was excellent at concealing the fact that she had once been human, but if you knew it, blatant signs like that one jumped out. He left for his own quarters, wondering what exactly that bond between who she once was and who T'Son was meant.

T'Son himself was sitting in his brig and wishing the ship's counselor was there. Even Logan or Gail, who were not counselors, would be good just to talk to. Unfortunately, Toreth had made sure that had got a cell to himself. What an honor. Toreth had given him a few padds with novels on them, but they were all in Toreth's tastes. He suspected the one labeled 2004 Ways to Break out of a Romulan Brig was merely a joke and Toreth had made sure none of those ways were possible.

The main thing he wondered was why in the name of Mount Seleya he had invited Qwi to be part of their discussion. He had thought there was absolutely no more possibility for friendship there whatsoever. Worse, maybe he just did not want to be the only Federation member talking to two Romulans, one of whom he knew tending to get furious very easily. Toreth might have had a point when she said friendship was more trouble than it was worth.

He rolled over and decided to try to get some sleep. What else could he do? At least this was better than, say, remaining in the twenty-first century, having Toreth move to Kansas, Qwi all but move to the moon as it was inaccessible and so was the high school at their old school, and having First Contact not come because their timeline was polluted by a television show.


	4. T'Son vs Vokar

ILuvHawkeye: I am so happy you liked it! And I have my eccentricities- deal with it. :)

Data: Well, there will definitely be a lot of emotions here (I cannot resist writing romance), so enjoy that. Glad you like it!

This is kind of an in-between chapter, with just some necessary facts mixed in with a lot of silliness. Next chapter, I think I will have some more action.

"Pizza Hut, Starbase 30, we have a special on Stuffed Crust with-"

"I hate stuffed crust. No, I would just like a normal, medium pepperoni pizza, thanks," Qwi interrupted. "Deliver to the captain of the USS Hawkeye." She cut the subspace transmission and leaned back in her ready room chair. She had to admit that the TNG people _did_ have some good ideas for their ships, even if she did not like the actual show as much.

Life was going good. She had just gotten in contact with her old friends and T'Son was not being too annoying yet. Soon she might even be on the warbird of the Chairman of the Tal Shiar. She might have been under T'Son's command, but he was pretty much ignoring her. And a glorious pepperoni pizza was on its way. But... there was one problem.

"Why do Toreth and T'Son always get to be the main characters and I am just an extra?" she said out loud.

"Please restate question," the computer said. Qwi rolled her eyes and waited for her pepperoni pizza to be transported in.

"For the last time, no, I will not let you have Mom- I mean, Gail's holo-emitter!"

"Why? What am I supposed to do with an EMH based on your mom! How is my EMH supposed to get me out of being a prisoner of the Tal Shiar? Toreth, you are being illogical. I just want one of my friends to talk to."

"I don't have to be logical; I'm Romulan, not Vulcan. But you... you're just whining. Typical, of a Klingon."

"Would you rather I make it Ferengi?"

"Do you want me to go into a homicidal rage, because I have a disruptor now?" Toreth asked. Her smile defied her words though.

"I'd just as rather you didn't," T'Son said dryly.

"That is a quote from The Undiscovered Country! Kirk, referring to... oh wait; that has not happened yet" T'Son tried unsuccessfully to keep from smiling. It was clear that Toreth had not had many opportunities to just "chat," and he was not surprised, knowing the nature of her position. For once, Vokar was not there. T'Son had to admit that he did not exactly trust the Romulan, and he could tell that Vokar did not trust him either. "T'Son?" a voice broke into his thoughts.

"Sorry, what?" he asked.

"You never listen to me," Toreth muttered. Ignoring his protests, she turned to the computer and pressed a few buttons to come up with a screen marked **CONFIDENTAL: TAL SHIAR REPORTS** and began browsing through the various pages.

"Don't bother to try to spy on those," a voice from the doorway said. T'Son jumped. He had not even heard Vokar come in, too busy was he trying to look over Toreth's shoulder. Worse, in the reflection from the monitor, he could see her smirking slightly. "She mislabels everything," Vokar continued, coming in. "That would be the plans for her latest novel- I assume you know how much she loves writing."

"How did you get in here?" T'Son asked furiously.

"She shows those she trusts her back doors," Vokar said in an off-hand manner. What was implied was, "Oh dear. She did not show you? I am so sorry," dripping with sarcasm.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" T'Son asked. He was not used to this. T'Son was a Commodore, well on his way to the Admiralty. He was used to being in control. He was used to using little phrases to hopelessly confuse people. No, suddenly, the tables were turned and he did not like it one bit.

"I could be just making conversation," Vokar said, shrugging. "Of course, I could be trying to hopelessly confuse you so I can break your guard down and ascertain your true motives. Take your pick."

"You hardly are supposed to tell someone when you are trying to trick them."

"T'Son, listen to me," Vokar said, and there was no hint of amusement in his voice anymore. "Like it or not, probably not, you are a prisoner of the Romulan Tal Shiar. Toreth is not the sweet, innocent human you once knew."

"Toreth was never sweet or innocent."

"Well, more sweet and innocent than she is now. Her highest love is for her Empire. She would do anything to safeguard that, including turn her best friend over for interrogation about Federation plans. I know she might let you run around her ship and talk to her like this, but she does not really know you anymore." Suddenly, T'Son realized what Vokar meant.

"You're jealous, aren't you? You're worried that she might love me."

"I should have paid more attention when Toreth told me how good he was at telling peoples feelings from a few words," Vokar muttered to himself. T'Son's Vulcan hearing caught this, and he knew he had the upper hand once more. Out loud, however, he only said, "The Chairman of the Tal Shiar does not have time for such things as love. And as to what two teenagers may or may not have felt for one another, that does not matter. As I have already told you, Toreth is a completely different person." At this, Toreth spun around, annoyed.

"Don't you two know it's rude to talk behind people's backs? I am a girl- I can multitask, which means I can fill out this paperwork and listen to y'all's conversation."

"Y'all's?" T'Son asked, raising the infamous Vulcan eyebrow.

"I grew in North Carolina- so shoot me. No, T'Son, I did not mean that literally. Federation-ers, honestly!" She turned back to her paperwork, which this time was labeled **CONFIDENTAL: VIVIAN NIGHTENGALE APPLE PIE**.

"I am not even going to ask," he muttered, and turned away.

Qwi idly chewed her pizza and watched as the news unfolded in front of her eyes. The reporter was an Andorian who was clearly very excited about her subject. The universal translator could barely keep up with her.

"The Klingons have seemed to invent a prototype bird-of-prey that can fire while cloaked, something they were not expected to do until the early nineties, according to our intelligence reports. However, as these are extremely expensive to build and maintain, the Klingons will probably stop with this one. However, Federation members in space are advised to be more cautious than ever."

"Oh, please," Qwi muttered. "Any twenty-first century person or Spock knows you just have to catch the stupid thing at impulse. 'Gas, Captain.' Toreth certainly recited the movie enough times for me to know!" Having a thought, she suddenly grinned. "Toreth is going to be so mad when she finds out she has totally demolished the plot of her favorite Star Trek movie! Computer, put me through to the RIW Kaleh- Toreth's private channel, please."

"Working," the computer said, and in a moment the still-unfamiliar face showed up on the screen.

"Qwi, I am kind of busy now" Toreth said, throwing a glance back over her should to where T'Son and Vokar were both sizing up the daggers hanging on her wall, in between shooting death glares at one another.

"Listen, you remember the bird-of-prey from Star Trek VI, right? Well, they made it ahead of time and it is loose somewhere in space."

"Trust the Klingons to completely mess up _my_ movie just because of a stupid war," Toreth muttered. "Thanks for the warning, Qwi. I am almost to the Hawkeye anyway... if Vokar and T'Son don't destroy my warbird first. _Men!_ What are they so on about anyway?" Qwi stifled a laugh and cut the connection. Even across species, some things never changed.

Many, many light-years away, a Klingon sat on a bridge, gazing at the wreckage of a starship on the viewscreen before him. He smiled, and raised a glass of bloodwine in salute. Korok felt extremely honored that he had gotten the position of Captain of the prototype bird-of-prey. He had just blown a Federation starship to pieces of metal the size of Coke bottles. They had never known what hit them.

Korok grinned again, and, as per his orders, turned towards the Romulan-Federation border...

A/N: In case any of you were confused, T'Son is not in love with Toreth, but Vokar thinks he might be. Unless, T'Son, you _want_ me to do that for a plot twist.


	5. Those Darn Klingons!

ILuvHawkeye: I am glad you loved it! It is nice to be the only thing in someone's life one looks forward to. And you do not that T'Son can look at your review whenever he wants, right? But then, you are illogical, remember? Thanks for being my one reviewer. By the way, you join T'Son and me this chapter. Finally!

I only have one A/N this time: **REVIEW PLEASE!**

The moment her helm officer turned around and said, "Romulan warbird uncloaking dead ahead. Should we raise shields?" Qwi leapt into the air and let out a victory cry of "Finally!" She grinned a bit nervously when the entire bridge crew turned in their seats and simply stared at her. That is, they did until the communications officer announced something even more startling.

"They are... hailing us, Captain," he said nervously. This was unusual, for normally Romulans in a war merely beginning firing. "They do have shields up and weapons powered up though."

"She doesn't trust me either?" Qwi muttered, slightly put out. "On screen," she continued in her normal voice. A moment later, the image of the proud Kaleh was replaced by the faces of three familiar people and many not so familiar people. Qwi could not help but notice Toreth had quickly stepped between T'Son and Vokar. Puh-lease.

"To those of you who do not know, I am Commander Toreth of the Romulan Warbird Kaleh. Greetings, Captain Qwi; I assume that you know Commodore T'Son?" Toreth said in her most imperial voice.

"Dispense with the dramatics, Tori," Qwi said with a laugh. She did, however, notice that Toreth had not given her real title. Also, she looked mad now.

"Tori? You would dare to give the- me, a _human_ nickname? How dare you."

"Relax, Tori. I give you all kinds of nicknames- Vallie, Steph... does T'Son still call you Val-Pak?" Qwi laughed to herself as she watched a range of emotions from humiliation to fury rage across Toreth's face. She was quite certain no one had talked to Toreth like that since she had become Chairman of the Tal Shiar. Toreth at last settled for a clearly feigned calm.

"We need to talk, _in private_," Toreth hissed. "Beam over to my ship promptly. I will have security officers meet you in my transporter room. Bring no one else." With that, the screen went dark, and then went back to the picture of the Kaleh with, Qwi now noticed, the slightly damaged Royale in her tractor beam. Shaking her head and smiling slightly, Qwi headed for the transporter room.

Vokar felt the beginnings of a headache starting to develop. He had finally gotten rid of the T'Son-induced headache he had had for the last few days, and now it appeared Qwi was going to blow headaches to a whole new level... again! The young human captain appeared... hyper. Now, he was sitting in a conference room listening to Toreth and T'Son argue.

"T'Son, you hate everyone I love. First Qwi, then Andrew, then Vokar! Honestly, you are worse than Mom was."

"Why did you have to remind me of Andrew now? I had just forgotten him!"

"Why did you hate Andrew so much anyway? Were you jealous or something? And what is between you and Vokar too? I am allowed to have other friends, you know." Luckily for all parties involved, the door opened at that moment and Qwi dashed in, ignoring the annoyed expressions of the security guards.

"You have done more than enough," Toreth told them sympathetically, knowing what it was like to deal with a hyper Qwi. "Please, take tomorrow off. Qwi, be seated and we can began... discussions." The security guards gave each other identical looks of relief and excited the room.

"Oh, goddess, Tori, you do not know how much I missed you when you left. That was even worse than when you made the announcement you were moving to Kansas! Luckily, we got thrown forward in time and you did not have to do that. But how dare you leave me alone with T'Son as the only people on the Enterprise younger than twenty-something!?"

"Qwi, this is hardly the time for me to make much atonement for past wrongs," Toreth said dryly. I need to decide what I am going to do to- with, you two. Now please, be seated. There are open spaces next to T'Son and Vokar both." Qwi frowned a little and took the seat next to Vokar.

"What do you mean by, 'do "to" us,'" T'Son asked, leaning forward and wishing Toreth had not taken the end seat.

"You are Federation. I am Romulan. We are at war. You are good at math."

"But... what about friendship, and loyalty, and-" Qwi began, but T'Son interrupted.

"You must have missed the word 'Romulan,' Captain," he said. "Romulans are, to be blunt, tricky backstabbers. And, as Vokar oh-so-kindly pointed out to me a few days ago, Toreth is hardly the semi-sweet human you once knew. In fact, being Chairman of the Tal Shiar, she is probably the biggest backstabber of all the Romulans. Am I right?"

"You are," Toreth said, idly pulling out a dagger from somewhere on her person and balancing it on one finger. This, of course, underscored T'Son's point.

"You guys are being condescending again," Qwi pointed out, annoyed. As Toreth protested that she did, this time, actually have a reason to be condescending because of her position, Vokar gave silent thanks to God that he was not born a human. They may have been made in His image, but they did not have the sense God gave a grasshopper. Luckily, sixteen years had done a lot to stamp that out of Toreth, but as the other two were surrounded by the loathsome beings 26/7... If was even worse than the experiment Toreth had done when she first took command of the Kaleh. She bought a housecat. Needless to say, the cat and the starship did not get along. He was beginning to understand Toreth's Earth expression "cat-fights" in reference to human social actions, especially in the range of ages from twelve to thirty.

"Need Advil," Toreth moaned nearly an hour and a half latest. "Or chocolate," she added thoughtfully.

"Come on, I'll walk you back to your quarters. You can have a relaxing nap or something," Vokar said, standing up. That was when the first torpedo exploded. Qwi and Toreth were thrown to the ground, as they were just standing up. T'Son, having still been seated, narrowly managed to hang on and Vokar fell to his knees.

"Damn it!" Toreth cried, jumping to her feet and dashing in the direction of the bridge. Vokar, T'Son, and Qwi were only two seconds behind her. "What in the name of light was that?" Toreth demanded the moment she skidded onto the bridge.

"There is something out there firing on all three ships," a terrified officer said. "Worse, it can fire when cloaked. We think it is that bird-of-prey you told us about."

"Okay, release the Royale from our tractor beam and beam her crew over to her. And while you are act it, get me some people who know about gas and photons," Toreth ordered. Everyone but Vokar, T'Son, and Qwi looked doubtful, but they did as they were asked.

"Dropping shields to beam... now!" an officer cried as the Hawkeye fired a wide spread of phasers hoping to distract the bird-of-prey. Unfortunately, that did not work as well as anyone might have hoped. For, even as T'Son was disappearing from the bridge, so were Toreth and Qwi. And the transporter pattern was nowhere near Federation or Romulan. The Klingons, now that they had the three commanding officers where satisfied. It might also have had something to do with the fact that it was now two starships and one warbird against their lonely bird-of-prey. Anyhow, they fled in warp, leaving three devastated crews behind.

Elaina Darkeir picked herself off the floor where she landed after the transporter beam released her, trying to shut out the confused and angry thoughts invading her consciousness. Where was T'Son? For that matter, where were the other officers. She and two ensigns had landed on the bridge. That made her the ranking officer. Lieutenant Commander Elaina Darkeir was in control of a starship in the middle of a war zone in the Romulan Neutral Zone.

"Are either of you the communications officer, because someone is hailing us," she told the two ensigns. One of them muttered something about being a communications major and opened a channel. The face of that a Romulan male appeared on screen. A moment later, the screen divided in two and the face of a Trill male appeared also.

"I am Subcommander Vokar," the Romulan said.

"Commander Codiar Ruen," the Trill introduced himself.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander Elaina Darkeir," Elaina said nervously.

"I assume that neither of you have your ranking officers back," the Romulan said. "It appears as though they are in the hands of the Klingon veruuls."

"Are the two of you willing to call a temporary truce so we can determine exactly what happened and how to get the Commodore, Captain, and Commander back?" Commander Ruen asked.

"All too much," Vokar said under his breath. "Yes. The commander is extremely valuable to the Empire."

"As is the Commodore," Elaina said, wishing the commander would come back on the bridge. She was not cut out for command duty, and had come to expect that the T'Son's stable hand would always be there. Yet, in the past week, she had gotten thrown in a Romulan brig, left to rot for a few days, thrown out again and onto the bridge of her ship, and now she was in command. It was enough to turn any sensible Betazoid's head. But she did know one thing- no matter what, they would get T'Son (and the other two) back. They had to.


	6. Emotional Romulans

ILuvHawkeye: I am glad. Here is the promised update!

Data: Whatever gave you any indication that I was going to stop? Thanks for the compliments... is this better than Love Me, Love Me Not? And Vokar is actually based on- blushes- my dream guy. And I highly doubt my dream guy is from Kansas. LOL

T'Son: Thank you! By the way, when you review, leave me notes on how I am doing with your character. This will help me to write you better.

This chapter gets a bit deeper a quarter of the way through, but I need to write some seriousness. Character emotions are key to my stories, so if you are here for the humor, bear with me. It will get funny again! And, as always, R&R, and not only if you are one of the three people I asked in person to review! LOL I am also experimenting with the three dashes thing to break up scenes- is that easier? Should I continue?

Before she realized what was going on, Toreth felt her vision grow fuzzy. Her first thought was of the contact lenses she had worn a few lifetimes ago, but then she recognized the effect. Apparently the idiot at the transporter controls saw fit to beam her over too. But when her vision finally cleared, she saw not the blue and silver bridge lit with the numerous Red Alert lights T'Son had put in, but a different bridge- one that was infuriatingly familiar. Within seconds, she had her disruptor out and pointing at the figure in the central chair... who was not General Chang.

"Seize them," the Klingon, whoever he was, said lazily. Toreth fired, but at that moment someone grabbed her arms, causing her shot to go wild. She looked around and saw that Qwi and T'Son were with her, and they were in similar predicaments. The three of them struggled and found Klingon disruptors pointed at them.

"What are we doing here? Who are you?" T'Son demanded furiously. The Klingon grinned.

"All in good time, Commodore. First, let me introduce myself. I am Captain Korok, master of this little prototype. My plant has informed me that you-" He was interrupted by a sound of disbelief.

"You talk to _plants_?" Qwi asked in a scathing tone. "Wow, I never knew Klingons were _that_ stupid."

"They are, trust me," Toreth said, shaking her head. Korok made a sound of annoyance.

"A plant in the sense of a Klingon planted in an enemy government to inform the Klingons of that enemy's movements! _I_ never knew Romulans and humans were this stupid! As I was saying, my plant has informed me that all of you possess advanced technological information and are almost like true psychics. I demand to know where you got this information. You must tell me everything you know and how you know it. Should you refuse to cooperate, the consequences could be unpleasant, at least for you. So what do the three you say?"

"I will never betray the Romulan Star Empire," Toreth said. "My secrets are for my empire alone and nothing you can do to me will change that."

"Likewise, I stand for the United Federation of Planets. Not until 2293 will I even consider giving you any technological secrets," T'Son said.

"I also will keep my secrets within the confines of Federation territory. No Klingon will learn anything from me, especially in this century," Qwi said. The Klingon sighed.

"As I expected," he muttered, partly to himself. "Very well, strip them of anything that could be thought of as a weapon and put them in the brig. Just having a human, a Vulcan, and a Romulan in the same brig should be difficult enough for you to start with."

"Oh, you have _no_ idea," T'Son grumbled. Toreth could not help grinning at that.

"Wait... where are you taking us?" Qwi asked. T'Son and Toreth suddenly felt rather stupid for forgetting about that. They looked at the viewscreen and noticed the stars whizzing by as typical when moving at warp.

"Why, we are going to the Enterprise, of course!" Korok said. "Captain Spock, if I have my way, will soon be another one of my guests!"

(A/N: I estimate this to be a little bit before The Wrath of Khan, though I have very little real idea).

"Not Spock!" Toreth whispered as they were led away, too numb to even fight back. Only T'Son, with his Vulcan hearing, heard her.

---

Everything had been confiscated, even their clothes, and they were now dressed in the most hideous Klingon things. The three of them had checked the cell top to bottom, side to side, any other way they could think of, and they had still not found a way out. They needed help, but their friends were light years away and no Klingon was going to help them. Toreth was sitting against a wall, staring straight ahead and not seeing anything. T'Son was going over even the minutest of cracks yet another time. Qwi pulled her Klingon garments, trying to get them to hang right. They were made for a much larger female.

"Upset because your 'one true love' is going to be captured?" Qwi teased Toreth, but it was only half-hearted.

"Spock is not my one true love anymore," Toreth said.

"Who then- T'Son?"

"No."

"Okay, why are you depressed?" T'Son asked, hearing their conversation. At last, Toreth smiled slightly.

"Only you..." she murmured. "I am the Chairman of the Tal Shiar. I am one of the most powerful and influential women in the Empire. I have everything- a starship, a wonderful job, power, money, a loving best friend... so the fall is hard. Worse, to be stuck with you two now, of all times, well, it is as though I am a teenager on an emotional rollercoaster again. Besides, I hate being helpless. And the fall is harder for me, the fall from power to prisoner, because I feel things more strongly than you. T'Son, you might not be a 'normal' Vulcan in the emotional sense, but I am sure some of it has rubbed off on you. Qwi, Romulans have always felt emotions stronger than humans, and I used to be one quarter Italian on Earth anyway." She smiled wryly.

"Well, we're upset too, Tori," Qwi said. "But at least there are people out there, on our ships, who we can trust to take control of our ships and help us. At least you are with friends here, too!"

"No, I do not," Toreth said, eyes narrowing. "You two think everything can go back to the way it was when we were sixteen. Well, it cannot. Also, it was never to way you thought it was. Do you know how long I had been passing information to the Romulans before I left Enterprise? Since we arrived. My people are the Romulans, Vokar is my only friend."

"Fine, be that way," Qwi muttered.

"Are you still going to help us get out of this cell?" T'Son asked.

"Of course," Toreth said. "However, I do this for myself, not you. My motives are entirely selfish."

"When have they not been?" T'Son asked sarcastically.

"When they were for the good of the Romulan Star Empire as a whole," Toreth answered without hesitation.

---

Elaina was not happy. She had gone to see about the real commander of T'Son's ship, and he had been in sickbay, unable to take any sort of command. He told her that she was temporarily in command, since she was the only one who knew what was going on. Of course, she was a counselor. She had no idea of how to run a starship. She wore blue, not gold. And now she was expected to work with a Romulan and save her commanding officer from Klingons! It was absurd.

"... Commander Toreth has explained to me how to trap this bird-of-prey, if we can only find him," Vokar was saying. With difficultly, Elaina dragged her attention back to the meeting of the two Acting-Captains and the Acting-Commander.

"But how _are_ we supposed to find it?" Codiar asked.

"You compile the lists of what might be major targets in the Federation. I will do the same for Romulus. Let us hope that he is not too far away, but will not strike at either of our peoples," Vokar said.

"Good day," Codiar said, "once your commander's minions escort me to the transporter room." Clearly Codiar did not like working with Romulans. Vokar obviously did not like working with Federation members either. He glared at Codiar's retreating back, offended at the insult to Toreth.

"Vokar?" Elaina asked. He turned his eyes on her. "We will get them all back... and we can trust you to help us, despite the fact that you are a... Romulan, right?"

"I will attempt to get To- the commander back," Vokar said, reminding himself that he had to be formal around Federation people. "As for the other, they are high-ranking Federation officers who are against the Romulan Star Empire. They could drop down a pit for all I care. If in doing this, I must work with you and the veruul who calls himself Codiar, then so be it. It is for the good of the Empire."

"Is everything you Romulans do for the good of your Empire?" Elaina asked. Vokar nodded. She shrugged and exited the room with the Romulan guards, not seeing him collapse into one of the chairs and bury his face in his hands. Vokar could not admit it to anyone, but he missed Toreth more than he had previously thought possible. Who would have thought that two nerds who met in the library when Vokar asked Toreth for help in a language class could have grown so close? Little did he know that Toreth was thinking the same thoughts about him.


	7. Boredom and Dissension

ILuvHawkeye: Okay, I tried to put more of us here, but that was difficult. I need to concentrate on our rescuers too! Next chapter... And I will continue the dashes.

I need an opinion from my readers- what exactly should I have happen to the Trio on the Klingon ship? Generally, enemies interrogate enemies in a painful fashion, but I am not sure I want to do that here. I need ideas, so please R&R! By the way, look for DATA here. (My reviewer, not the character in TNG).

"Earth and Starbase One, of course, are the most obvious sites. Also, there are other prominent planets, like Vulcan, there is the USS Enterprise, even if it is only Captain Spock and not Admiral Kirk anymore..." Codiar continued naming various places and pointing them out on the map of the Federation on the Hawkeye's conference room viewscreen. Vokar listened attentively, making notes on a padd he had brought with him. Elaina was nodding, though whether in sleep or agreement, no one could tell. It did not matter anyway- surely she had helped Codiar compile their list. "... and lastly, any other Nathan-class starships, not just us. What are the Romulan targets, Subcommander?" Vokar smiled, a wry smile with no humor in it.

"You see, Commander, I cannot tell you the Romulan targets." Vokar held up a hand to forestall the Codiar's impatient questions. "I have indeed compiled a list. But Commander, you must truly be a fool to expect to me to tell one of my enemies exactly where they should strike to inflict the most damage on the Romulan Star Empire. Fortunately for me, Federation people are more trusting than Romulans. So now, I will give this list to the Cha- Commander when I recover her. She will be very grateful to you. I have Romulans guarding the places on my list, and if the Klingon ship comes anywhere near, we will get the three officers back. You need not worry until we get them back and our truce ends."

"And then what?" the furious Codiar demanded. "Can we honestly expect you to give Commodore T'Son and Captain Qwi back to the United Federation of Planets? I think not. And what about that list you now hold in your hand?"

"Commander, you really have no choice now. Everything that happens after this will be because of your short-sighted ness. Qwi is very unlucky to have you as a first officer. I almost think that a Vulcan would be better, and you know what Romulans think of Vulcans. Good day. Our next meeting will be tomorrow, on the Royale." With that, Vokar walked out, the precious padd that could destroy the Federation in his pocket.

---

The Trekkie Trio was bored. They had not exactly gotten a good response when Toreth had asked a guard for a novel or something to write with. Worse, apparently the Klingon guards were bored too, for they had put on a horrible thing full of snarls and growls that apparently was a famous opera, the musical, Klingon production of The Merchant of Venice. Even had Qwi had admitted that she liked T'Son's singing better. Toreth had let her hair hang over her ears in a desperate attempt to block out the sound. Not that it worked.

"Let's play, 'What could make this worse?'" T'Son said in an attempt to make a joke and be somewhat optimistic. "At least no one has been hauled away and tortured for information yet."

"You think? This 'music' is torture," Toreth said. "I would almost prefer physical torture. I know something that would make this _much_ worse- if T'Son just happened to have pon farr right about now." Both Federation members paled.

"That is sick," Qwi managed to choke out. "As usual, Toreth, you manage to tell the sickest jokes of anyone in the universe."

"Thankfully I went through that a few years- less than seven- ago," T'Son said. He pointedly ignored Toreth's interested expression. He was bright green with embarrassment.

"I think, 'Remember when...?'" would be... safer," Qwi said.

"Okay, remember when the Ultimate Authority on All Things Mathematical and the Best Mathematics Professor the Multiverses Have Ever Seen gave us each a piece of gum..." Toreth began.

"Maybe that one isn't safe either," T'Son said hastily. "Although I do like the new titles for Mr. Jackson..."

"I made those up centuries ago," Toreth said, waving a hand in a careless manner. "After all, what does one expect from his favorite student?"

"Since I was his favorite student, not you, I know that he expects a higher standard of mathematics that anything you could provide on any test."

"And skipping kindergarten and fifth grade math is not enough? I seem to remember that you were older than me, but a grade lower-"

"You guys, Mr. Jackson is dead by now, you really do not need to restart the argument over who his favorite student was," Qwi said. Neither of them could hear her. Their shouts mixed with The Merchant of Venice combined for a deafening atmosphere. Even the Klingons looked slightly annoyed.

---

The cloaked Romulan ship and the two visible Federation ships raced between the stars of Federation territory, hot on the fast fading warp signature of a Klingon ship. It was still uncertain as to where it was headed, but it appeared more and more likely that it was indeed a destination in Federation territory. Of course, it had to be. And Commander Codiar Ruen was not one bit happy about helping a Romulan with devious schemes in mind through UFP territory. Yet, he knew that it was only due to the advanced tracking skills of the warbird and the Royale that they could even follow this bit of signature. However, if they were much slower, the trail would fade and the advanced sensors would be useless.

Elaina, who was supposed to be commanding T'Son's warbird, was, according to a random ensign, on the warbird for another meeting with Vokar. He did not believe that for one second. He had a big problem with medical officers being placed in any positions of power. Of course, he had a personal reason. Qwi had been a medical officer before her command of the Hawkeye. The position that should have been his, captain, instead went to her. He suspected that it was because of that weird knowledge she seemed to have, not any real leadership capabilities.

Codiar felt he had always been passed over. He was an Unjoined Trill, because he apparently was not compatible with any of the symbionts. He apparently had "attitude problems" that prevented him from being a good host. That was apparently also the reason he had been passed over for captaincy. Codiar merely was opinionated, selfish, and biased, nothing more. Wait a minute...

Codiar knew one thing though, neither the Romulans nor the Trio could be trusted. He did not know what exactly was wrong with them, but they were just... odd. The Romulan woman was, well, Romulan, but it was more than that. She had a certain dignity about her that came from being more than a simple commander of a warbird. His own captain was promoted from a simple medical officer to a captain, bypassing the better qualified him. And the Vulcan commodore was more emotional than a human. Something in this equation did not add up, and x was a negative decimal instead of a positive integer.

Codiar knew he had to find the connection between the three who were captured. He had to do this not only because it would save the Federation from being at the hands of those three, but also it would up him in the eyes of those in command. Codiar would find this out, drive the Romulans back to their tiny corner of the galaxy, make the Federation the greatest it had ever been, and at its head would be Codiar Ruen... Codiar ran to a console, sat down, and started punching numbers in.

---

The ending of The Merchant of Venice brought T'Son and Toreth out of their argument, mainly because it cut off just as Toreth was shouting, "ANGEL HAIR PASTA IS ABSOLUTELY USELESS!" Somehow, she and T'Son had progressed from arguing about their math teacher from centuries ago to which pasta was the best kind. Apparently Toreth hated angel hair pasta with a vengeance, because she shouted loud enough for the Borg in the Delta Quadrant to stop what they were doing and look her direction.

"You're insane," Qwi muttered, removing her hands from her ears.

"I thought we had already established that," Toreth muttered, her voice hoarse. Even her ears were ringing. "Excuse me, Klingon brute, may I please have something to drink?" she asked of one of the guards. He said something in Klingon.

"That means you it was your own fault you were yelling," T'Son said. After all, he was a quarter Klingon. His voice was hoarse too.

"Now, now, do not be rude to our honored guests," a calm voice admonished. Korok stepped into view on the other side of the force field. "Why, I was about to invite them to dinner. Certainly you three want to get out of that cell and have a decent meal. No tricks; I am merely using the honey-and-a-stick method- according to humans it goes so much farther."

"It's a trick," Qwi said.

"What did you put in the food?" Toreth asked.

"Now, now, do I have to drag you three to dinner or are you going to graciously accept my kind invitation?" Seemingly as a gesture of goodwill, he lowered the force fields, though the guards had their disruptors out.

"Long world-view," Toreth muttered softly. No one heard her. Throwing her hair over her shoulder and raising her head, she stepped out of the brig with the dignity of the chairman she was. "Do not let your thugs-for-hire touch me," she commanded imperiously. "I will come." Glancing at each other, T'Son and Qwi followed, wondering what sort of new devilishness this was.

---

Vokar retrieved another mug of Rooibos from the replicator. He swore he was addicted to the stuff. Only everything was all wrong. He was in his own quarters, not Toreth's and the woman across from him was a Betazoid, not Romulan. She had beamed over a little bit ago to talk further of some plans, stating flatly that she did not trust Codiar. Apparently her Betazoid senses had picked something up. He sincerely hoped she was not reading his mind and was extremely thankful to Toreth for showing him some mental disciplines, despite the fact that they were Vulcan.

"You are not concentrating at all on what I have to say, are you?" Elaina asked, but not in disapproval. She seemed understanding. Silently, Vokar shook his head. Elaina smiled sadly. "I know you are worried about her, Subcommander Vokar. I myself am terrified for T'Son. Yes, I know this. Your mental blocks are decent, but your thoughts are still practically screaming worry for her. The crews of all three ships are worried, but we can save them. We have to able to." She blinked back tears a moment herself.

"It is nothing personal..." Vokar said softly.

"Of course it is," Elaina said. "I am not only a Betazoid, but a ship's counselor. I know these things. And we have solid plans established. We will get them back, for the most part unharmed, I hope. I have to believe that, and so do you. If we lose hope, that is the worst thing that can happen, for us or them."


	8. Confrontations

ILuvHawkeye: Glad you liked it. Here is the long-awaited update, while not as funny, 100 percent us.

Data: The fate of the Federation is in my hands. I like that idea. LOL And you know, the Trio only thinks you are dead. I did not mention them looking you up in AOTTT! :raises eyebrow: By the way, the compliments are true.

Points to those of you who get the joke with the planet in the paragraph below the next paragraph. This is a nice long update for you! I have more questions. Should I cancel the "humor" category? This is not near as humorous as AOTTT! and in fact on page three, there is a huge moral dilemma. Despite that though, enjoy! As always, R&R please!

If nothing else, Korok certainly knew how to throw a party. The three captured Trekkies walked into a scene of magnificence. Toreth muttered something about this Klingon certainly knowing how to mess with a prisoner's mind, and it was true. Though the room was just a conference room, the decorations transformed it into a banquet hall, and banquet certainly was the appropriate word. There was one long table, and it was piled it high with all manner of delicious food from several worlds.

Each of the four sat down in one of the four places. Even the plates were fancy, sprinkled with a strong, but good smelling spice, and then some sort of syrup. The silverware was a rare blue metal from a planet called Bleucouteau VIII, and intricately worked to have ornate swirls on the handles. Korok was grinning at his "guests'" reactions. Qwi was taking it all in with wide eyes, amazed by the finery. T'Son was wondering if this were what kind of meals the President of the Federation took, and wanted to be in that office. Toreth was trying to mask her awe with disdain, and not succeeding.

"Well now, what do you think of my little feast?" Korok asked. "Are you happy you decided to cooperate after all?"

"Nice try, Captain Korok, but did you really think all this could prevent me from noticing the clever traps?" Toreth asked, raising an eyebrow and looking very Vulcan. Of course, she would have killed anyone who called her Vulcan. "The spices on our plates are slightly different then yours. They are undoubtedly some sort of poison, as is the syrup." She went on to point out other little things, like the near invisible lines of some sort of liquid on the knife edges. "And lastly, despite how much I miss my grandmother's apple pie," she concluded, "I would not eat a pie with razor thin slices of metal carved and painted to look like apples. Did I miss anything?" Korok was gaping.

"How did you...?" he managed to say. Toreth smirked.

"You think I have not done this myself? I'm Tal Shiar, remember? Trust me, the razor just make a mess on your table and make your prisoner madder." Qwi and T'Son winced in sympathy.

"You forgot the mashed potatoes imported from New Antarctica," Korok said, partially in annoyance, partially in shock.

"Oh no," Toreth said softly, putting a finger to her lips in a thoughtful manner. "I knew I was getting rusty."

"Remind me never to accept your dinner invitations," Qwi said. T'Son nodded in wholehearted agreement, not realizing who he was agreeing with.

"I suppose this means we cannot have our feast," Korok said. He sounded almost disappointed. "Oh well. A good leader always has backups." Without warning, a hypo was given to each member of the Trekkie Trio.

"What was that? What did you do to us?" Qwi asked, eyes wide.

"This drug will slow your mental responses, not as in stupidity, but as in tiredness. You will also be much more inclined to talk freely, especially about... confidential matters." Toreth and Qwi took on panic looks. Korok was grinning. No one noticed that T'Son looked perfectly composed, even now. The three were taken back to their cell to await whatever fate was in store for them.

T'Son knew the girls would be furious if he told them his secret, so he did not bother. It was hard though, because of the drug. Qwi had babbled on and on about some dog she had had when she was younger, which was okay, because she was human. But if he or especially Toreth were to start about the dogs _they_ had had... He had already had to remind both girls to hush several times. Therefore, they were talking about cosmetics, of all things.

"I still hate make-up," Toreth said. "As Chairman of the Tal Shiar though, it gets me trouble. The Emperor himself once actually asked me if I was feeling alright. I had just got back from... tell you later... and I had circles under my eyes or something. Not that I had bothered to use some sort of concealing..." T'Son tuned them out. Anything that could make Toreth talk about make-up without violence against the poor powders was a powerful drug indeed.

He concentrated on looking for an exit, and not talking. Qwi was nearly asleep, because of the hypo, and even Toreth was starting to wind down. T'Son concentrated on listened to the talk of the guard, and deciphering the rapidly spoken Klingon. He was on a communicator.

"I'm supposed to let the force field down when they're asleep and put in some higher security measures. The hypo should give me eight hours, approximately. Tomorrow though, when they wake up, the other parts should not have quite worn off, and we can question them, especially that Romulan. Chairman of the Tal Shiar, no less...!" T'Son tuned him out too. He had enough information to formulate a plan.

"Toreth, Qwi, pretend to fall asleep," he hissed at them.

"Why?" Qwi asked. "And why aren't you tired?"

"Vulcan healing trances and other things," he said softly, knowing that they would be upset with him for not revealing this sooner. "Now, when the force field goes down, get his disruptor. You may be tired, but do not fall asleep. That is an order, Qwi. As Starfleet and Romulan officers, you all should know that it is about pushing yourself even when you can go no farther. Got it?" They nodded. Toreth kept talking for a few seconds, but faded out slowly. They waited, eyes closed, on the floor, for about forty-five minutes.

"You asleeping?" the Klingon asked in bad Federation Standard. When he got no reply, he assumed the drug was working and lowered the force field. However, as he was walking by Toreth, she lunged up and grabbed for his disruptor. T'Son seized another energy weapon he had in his boot, and Qwi grabbed his own handcuffs, and snapped them on his wrists while he was distracted. The Trekkie Trio managed to back him into a corner, Toreth keeping her disruptor and two furious eyes locked on him.

"Ask him where our communicators and weapons are," Toreth said to T'Son.

"I will tell nothing to a Romulan petaQ!" the Klingon snarled.

"You would tell T'Son though," Toreth said, looking steadily at her one time best friend. He suddenly realized what she wanted him to do.

"No, Toreth," T'Son said, staring at her in shock. "You really have changed. I can believe you would want me to do something like that! Don't you remember watching The Undiscovered Country?"

"Do not throw that back in my face," Toreth said harshly. "I did not realize how innocent I was as a human twelve-year-old when I first gasped at the events of that movie. Now that the entire Romulan Star Empire is at stake, for only with me can we for sure win this war, I realize that we all will do whatever is necessary, no matter what. At least this is a Klingon and not someone you are close to! T'Son, you have to do this. It is _logical_. But if you will not, I will have to. It would be better if you were to do it, being an actual Vulcan. But I have not forgotten how."

"Toreth, when we were teenagers... and you joked about becoming the Evil Empress of the Multiverses... I never until now realized just how serious you were," Qwi said, face pale.

"I refuse to do this. Spock was _your_ crush; maybe you can do what he did with a clean conscience," T'Son said. Hazel met silver in a fierce battle for a moment, until both turned away. The mind meld was accomplished quickly and with no fuss. Not that a Klingon would know how to put up mental shields in the first place. Toreth quickly and efficiently took what she needed from his mind and then knocked him unconscious.

"Has that... I mean, have you ever done that before?" Qwi asked as they walked along a corridor in the direction Toreth told them to go. Toreth nodded, head bowed. She did not want to meet the accusing gazes of the Federation duo, despite being a Romulan. "When?" Qwi asked in shock.

"When I was fifteen. I was already spying for the Romulans, and a man caught me in an area of the Enterprise that was classified. I had to modify his memory." T'Son stared at her in shock.

"I can't believe I was dating you!" he said with revulsion.

"I told you two I never belonged in the UFP," she said simply. "I have different values, different definitions of right and wrong, a completely different philosophy and way to view the world! Humans and Vulcans could never understand this. Even you two, who were once my best friends, do not understand, and are horrified by what you see." Now Toreth did look up, and the look in her silver eyes was that of cold relentless metal, the metal of the dagger for which her ship was named.

The Trio hurried along the corridor to the door behind which the communicators and weapons were located. As expected, they were guards, but the guards themselves were not expecting anything. It was not as though Toreth had given the man a chance to blab about escaped prisoners over the intercom. The Trio stunned the guards and quickly retrieved their personal items.

"It is so good to be out of Klingon apparel," Qwi said with content as she tugged her Federation uniform straight. Toreth nodded in agreement. T'Son rolled his eyes. Females were the same, no matter what species they were from, or even how evil they were.

"T'Son, listen," Toreth said, coming up beside him. "I know you could probably keep going forever; you could probably swim to Earth if you wanted, but Qwi and I _were_ drugged."

"Right..." T'Son said, feeling slightly foolish for forgetting. "We can do a classic trick- sleep in the ventilation ducts. By the time we awake, the Klingons will have undoubtedly discovered our not-so presence. From there, we only have to wait until a Federation or Romulan ship comes into communicator range."

"Great. It's like having a cell phone on roaming," Toreth muttered in annoyance. Qwi looked over at her with a mischievous grin.

"Tori, I know that at the time we first left Earth, your cell phone was named Kiwi. What is your communicator's name?" She ducked the slap Toreth threw at her.

"If you must know, Baron," Toreth said, bright green with embarrassment. She marched over to a ventilation duct, pried the screen off, and ducked inside. "I finished the fruit series not long ago and started the 'titles of power' series." Laughing under their breaths, Qwi and T'Son followed her into the duct to get some much needed sleep."


	9. No, Still Not off the Klingon Ship

Data: Sorry; I can only update about once a week. As it is, I am ignoring my other stories. :feels guilty: I am glad you liked it though. Are you _sure_ I cannot read you mind, even now? :)

Iluvhawkeye: Glad you liked it. And we talked on the phone ages ago, so hopefully you are no longer confused.

MajorHoulihan22: Yay, new reviewer! Iluvhawkeye told me about you. I will probably not be _that_ cruel, but I do have a few... surprises planned. Glad you enjoyed it!

I had some problems with this chapter, partly because I am not as good at writing battles. Hence, the long time between updates. But, as I seem to have ideas, and it is 2:34 am so no little sister can come begging for the computer, I should update faster. On a side note, I just learned how to do that little line thing. Cool, no? R&R!

"It has been three days and we are still getting nothing!? What is this, a freighter?" Elaina demanded in frustration. The center chair sat cold and empty as the agitated counselor paced in front of the viewscreen. She had been under a lot of stress, with being thrust in command and relying on a Romulan warbird, and who counsels the counselor?

"Sir, we are doing everything we can to get the commodore back, but even a starship like this cannot do everything. Are you sure the Romulans are taking us in the right direction?" a human ensign asked in worry.

"Nothing is sure right now, Ensign," Elaina moaned. "Just keep trying to reach him via communicator. In the meantime, I am going to go replicate a pot of coffee. Be right back." She strode into T'Son's ready room just in time to receive a subspace call from Vokar.

* * *

Despite the fact that the communicators had a range of one and one half sectors, T'Son, Qwi, and Toreth had still not managed to contact anyone by the third day. The poor Trio was sitting in a draft of cold air, miserably hoping they would not be found and watching Toreth fiddle with her communicator. The Romulan woman was not patient, and kept narrowing the beam to try and get it to reach just a little bit farther. Suddenly, in an unexpected burst of static, her efforts paid off. 

"Th- static ird Kaleh, Subcommander Voka- static this?" the voice on the other end said.

"Vokar?" Toreth cried happily into the piece of metal. "You are alive? This is Toreth." She adjusted a few things and Vokar suddenly came through a lot clearer.

"Toreth! I am so happy you are safe! Just a minute, I have Elaina Darkeir on subspace... she wants to know if T'Son is there."

"T'Son and Qwi are both right next to me. We are fine, aside from being freezing, starving, mentally and physically exhausted, and homesick. Is my ship still in one piece?"

"All three ships are fine, Toreth, but why are you worried about that? You should be more concerned with how you are going to get out of there. A Klingon ship is not a safe place to be if you are Romulan, let alone Chairman of the Tal Shiar and the one who has a bunch of knowledge of the future. What are your coordinates?" T'Son, who had been up to the Klingon bridge to spy, gave Vokar their coordinates. "That's not too far away!" Vokar said with happiness. "Toreth, I will have you out of there as fast as I can. I miss you."

"I miss you too. The next second could not be too soon for me," Toreth said, staring at the communicator with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Oh please," Qwi muttered. "Stop wasting time. You two are acting like a lovesick couple about to be reunited after a long and difficult adventure."

"We might as well be," Toreth said with a grin. "Vokar and I spend almost every moment of our existence together anyway, either in a professional manner or because we are best friends who live on the same ship. The only thing missing is the whole 'one true love thing.'"

"Spare me," T'Son, the least romantic of the Trekkie Trio, muttered as he rolled his eyes and turned away. Toreth laughed softly.

"In all seriousness though, Vokar, please, get me- us- back as quickly as you can. Not only do I not want to stay another minute on this _Klingon_ ship, but they are planning to attack Enterprise. Despite the fact that I am now I Romulan... I watched these people on 2D screens for a year, then stayed and made friends with them for three. I do not want harm to fall to them, Vokar."

"Oh, and what were you planning on doing to me?" T'Son muttered sarcastically. Toreth pretended to be thinking about it.

"Torture, interrogation under pressure, mind invasion, drugs, four lights, anything else you want to know?" she asked casually. Her grin belied her words though.

"Bah," T'Son muttered. Both females gave him strange looks.

"I think now is where I step out," Vokar's voice floated up from the communicator. "I love you, Toreth. Good bye."

"I love you too, Vokar. May the smiles rejoice the day we meet again," Toreth said in typical poetic manner. Reluctantly, she slowly closed her communicator, and turned around to see her former best friends grinning.

"You think he's _handsome_, you want to _date_ him, you-" Qwi sung teasingly.

"Now who's wasting time, Miss Congeniality," the irate Romulan muttered as she stalked by, or as well as one can stalk in an air duct. However, Qwi noticed that she did not deny the song's veracity.

* * *

Spock sat in his chair, watching the stars on the viewscreen go by. Though a Vulcan, he almost understood Kirk's mentality about wanting trouble when boredom struck, and he supposed that sometimes that attitude was... logical. Despite the fact that boredom was technically what got the Federation into a quadrant-wide war (for had Kirk and Bones not been bored, they would have never eavesdropped on the Trekkie Trio's conversation, and Toreth would never have become Chairman of the Tal Shiar and started the war), it had also given the Federation advanced technology through T'Son and Qwi. 

Spock wondered what was going on with those three now. Who knew where Toreth had gone after she disappeared ten long years ago? Qwi and T'Son were being sent off to the Romulan border last he checked. He did not know if they were still alive or not. Maybe they had killed each other. It seemed possible. Toreth had really been the only link between the two at the time of her disappearance.

"Captain, sensors are reading a disturbance directly ahead... holy cow, that's a torpedo!"

"Shields," Spock said, just in time. The torpedo from nowhere caused a substantial dip in power though. Two more torpedoes followed the first one, again, seeming to come out of nowhere. Was there perhaps a rip in the space-time continuum here? Were these torpedoes from nowhere in actuality coming from a different timeline or universe?

"Sir, sensors are picking up two Federation ships coming towards us at high warp speeds," the same ensign said. "They will arrive in four minutes, three seconds, Captain. Should I hail them?" Spock gave a short nod as the ship lurched again, nearly sending him out of his seat. It was a long four minutes, with the poor Enterprise trying to evade something that might or might not exist. But at last, the two ships got there, and two things happened simultaneously. A _Romulan warbird_ decloaked and the Nathan-class ship finally answered the hail.

"Lieutenant Commander Elaina Darkeir," the Betazoid on screen said by way of greeting. "The warbird is friendly and a Klingon bird-of-prey that can fire while cloaked is attacking you. We need to get a decent enough scan to pick up a human, a Vulcan, and a Romulan so we can beam them out of there before we destroy it. Can you help?" Spock thought for a moment. Human, Vulcan, Romulan... that sounded familiar.

"I can help. Would you be referring to Commodore T'Son, Captain Qwi, and Toreth?" Spock asked. Elaina's face registered surprise even as she snapped to someone in the background to "put more power to the sensors while Vokar keeps firing," whatever that meant. Clearly, the lieutenant commander was not normally in command.

"Yes," she said. "If myself, Commander Ruen, or Subcommander Vokar give you coordinates, can you transport all three of them to your ship?" she asked.

"Affirmative," Spock said as he called up a few reports from other areas of the ship. All the Enterprise could do now was wait for more information, and, illogical though it was, hope that Elaina and her interesting friends knew what they were doing. And Spock knew better than most that when the Trekkie Trio was involved, even the simplest of tasks also managed to somehow go horribly awry.

* * *

The space battle continued, though by this point it was clear that Korok had no chance. Faced with a Romulan warbird and three Federation starships, some of whom new the ionized gas trick, he was as good as dead. However, he would not let his three prisoners escape so they could go on to destroy more Klingon ships. He suspected they would move towards the transporters and try to beam themselves out while their ships were close, and he was distracted. They had underestimated him.

Korok entered the transporter room to a furious Trio held immobile by a few security guards. At his nod, they released the Trio and stepped back. T'Son, Qwi, and Toreth stood in a line, staring defiantly at Korok. Had one known them earlier, he or she or it could have seen the closer-than-family friendship these three had shared those long years ago. Korok got out his disruptor.

"I may be defeated while fighting for the Klingon Empire, and I do not mind," he said. "That is an honorable death. However, they will undoubtedly try to beam you away, and I cannot allow you to live and continue to give information that will help destroy the Empire. Therefore, good bye. There is a saying on Earth- ladies first." With that, he pointed the disruptor at Qwi and fired.


	10. The Trio Home

Qwi: Would I kill off one of my best friends? Yes. But no, I told you that I did not want to include kisses. There are some things I think you will enjoy in this chapter though.

MajorHoulihan22: Well, Qwi and T'Son used to be close... like a year ago... and I am _still_ in denial... LOL And to know Qwi's fate, read on! Glad you like it!

Data: Two updates in one day! Be happy! LOL

This is NOT the last chapter! It may seem like that, but that is because the next chapter is an epilogue! By the way, I have decided to turn this into a series, but the next installment will probably be posted in Star Trek: Other, since it will pretty much be fully away from TOS at that point. Now, to think of a title... R&R please!

Qwi was paralyzed, staring at the brightly colored beam of light. The only thought in her mind was Computer, one to transport NOW! Luckily, not everyone was so surprised. Two large, hard things knocked into Qwi from each side, causing the three of them to fall down in a tangle. The phaser fire fried a few of the ends of Qwi's hair that were sticking up as she fell, telling her exactly how close she had been to death. However, there was no time to worry about death, for it encircled them on almost all sides.

"Come on, run!" T'Son said impatiently. He and Toreth were already half dragging her out the door.

"Contact Vokar!" Toreth said, handing Qwi a communicator. The Trekkie Trio made a break for it. And Qwi ended up sort of saving them as she flipped open the communicator, gave their coordinates to Vokar, who passed them on to Enterprise, who beamed the Trio up. At that precise moment, the Klingon ship blew up in a fireworks display like not seen since a Ferengi Marauder had collided with a Klingon freighter last week.

* * *

Codiar Ruen did not care that the Trekkie Trio, including his commanding officer, was on the Klingon bird-of-prey. He did not care about the carefully constructed plan the others had built. He wanted to be acknowledged as the rightful captain of the Hawkeye, instead of some stupid medical officer. And the only way he knew how to get credit for something great done and get Qwi out of the way was to blow up the Klingon ship using the gas secret. 

Surprisingly (to him), none of the crew wanted to help him. They were all very against blowing up their captain, who was a nice, well-liked girl, if a bit reserved. Codiar did not care; if he had to jump in the torpedo case and fly to the bird-of-prey, he would. Codiar was overly ambitious, and thus would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. He quickly fixed the torpedo up himself, since no one else would help him. Luckily for him, they were not quite defiant enough to stop such a high ranking officer on their ship. Silly ensigns.

The moment Codiar hit the "fire" button was the happiest of his life. He was now commanding officer of the USS Hawkeye NCC-2004. It was a beautiful moment. At least... it was a beautiful moment until the Enterprise hailed him. He opened the channel to see Qwi glaring at him from where she stood in between Spock and the Romulan woman- Toreth, he now remembered.

"Arrest the commander," Qwi said to a security guard at the back of the bridge. "You knew I was on that ship; you knew you were supposed to wait. One more minute would not have made a difference. Why?"

"I deserve that chair," Codiar said. He was already arrested, so what he said made no difference now. "You were a stupid lieutenant in the medical department who cannot even factor trinomials. I was a commander, with quite a bit of experience behind me. You only became Captain because you have friends in high places, like your Vulcan boyfriend over there." Qwi and T'Son gave each other startled, revolted looks, even as Toreth tried to hide her laughter. It was not really a funny moment, but the idea of those two together was so ludicrous...

"You do realize, Commander," Toreth said in an overly friendly voice, "that too much ambition can only lead to Ruen... I mean, ruin." She gave him a charming smile and tossed her hair back over her shoulder. Former commander Codiar Ruen could only sputter as the security guard took him at phaser-point to the Hawkeye's brig.

* * *

"Everyone seems to have it out for you, Qwi," Toreth remarked as she leaned back in the rec room chair. T'Son, Qwi, Toreth, Spock, and Dr. McCoy were all there. "Whatever happened to the 'just a background character who is disposable' mentality? Disposable characters just die, they are not almost murdered then saved... _twice_."

"Yeah, about being saved the first time," Qwi said, "I have a question. Both of you tried to knock me down to avoid the phaser beam. T'Son, you think I am annoying and illogical and hate me, and Toreth, you always prided yourself on being the Romulan who was going to kill all humans and take over the galaxy someday. Why then, would either of you save me?" Both Vulcan and Romulan looked uncomfortable.

"I guess..." Toreth began at last. "Um... in the words of the Emperor Kuzco, nobody's that heartless." She shrugged.

"Who is Emperor Kuzco?" Spock asked.

"Well, there was this movie made either in the late twentieth century or the early twenty-first- I cannot remember- called The Emperor's New Groove." She needed to say no more. Qwi and T'Son recognizing the reference, burst into laughter. Poor Spock and McCoy merely sat there, looking very lost.

"Wouldn't you prefer to say that though you three have been apart for ten years, and now are even on opposite sides of a war, friendship and love endure forever and the Techie Trio or what you called yourselves could never been broken?" Bones asked in his dry way.

"Bones, it's _Trekkie_," Toreth said. "And how can you stand to have such an optimistic viewpoint? You Federation people are too happy for your own good."

"I find that remark insulting," Spock commented.

"Oh Spock, you do not always have to be so precise. It is not like you are the head of a feared and dangerous intelligence, I think second only to the Obsidian Order by popular consent. When people think _Federation_, they first think of the species at the heart of it, humans. I honestly do not understand how I could even have been in love with Vulcans." Toreth shook her head at the things teenage hormones did to people.

"Sort of along those lines, did anyone contact Kaleh, Hawkeye, and Royale?" T'Son asked. "I wish my crew to know that I am safe. I am sure that Qwi and Toreth want the same thing, especially Toreth." He snuck a glance at her, but she was involved in trying to get some of the air duct dust out from under her fingernails and had not heard. She was the oddest Chairman of the Tal Shiar even to exist, that was certain.

"I did," Bones said. "I also," he pressed a button on the table in front of them, "took the liberty of contacting someone else who will undoubtedly want to talk to Toreth especially." The screen filled with a familiar image, if ten years older than last time Toreth had seen him in person.

"Cap- Admiral Kirk!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Bones, you're joking," Kirk said with a laugh. "These cannot be the hyper, insane teenagers we used to know. It's just not possible. They look like... adults in Starfleet and whatever Toreth is in."

"You think?" Qwi muttered.

"I assure you, Jim, it is I, Toreth," Toreth said. T'Son and Qwi noticed she was using her "imperial" voice again- the one that told people they were lower class. She did this a lot when she was nervous though. "I am a commander in the Romulan Imperial fleet. And if you cannot believe your eyes, I suggest ancient reading glasses. You will receive them soon, so no worries," she added nonchalantly. Qwi and T'Son hid grins.

"Well, it is wonderful to see you all again," Kirk said. "It has been a few months, hmm, Qwi, T'Son? And Toreth... ten years or so?"

"Nine years, one month, twenty-nine da-" Spock began to say, but Kirk cut him off with a wave of the hand.

"Spock, we are not interested in the exact number of milliseconds"- 39- "that I have not seen Toreth for," he said. "Please, do not do your disappearing act again. Despite the fact that Qwi and T'Son both have their own starships, they still drop by my place when they are in this sector."

"I highly doubt I would be welcome, but confidential subspace messages... that _might_ be acceptable," Toreth said. The Trio talked with one of their greatest heroes for a few more minutes before the galaxy-famous admiral had to get back to work. At last, the Trio was able to beam back to their ships. Spock and Bones both saw them off. The Trio smiled as they beamed away, and T'Son gave Spock the Vulcan greeting.

This was not the last time the Trio would be together (far from it!), or the last time that they would see the slightly more famous trio from TOS, but it was an acknowledgement. It was an acknowledgement that though people might be on different sides of a war, though they might even think they hate each other, though they might have not seen or heard of each other for an entire decade, the love of friendship still resists being broken. T'Son and Qwi were hardly about to pledge undying love to each other. Toreth was hardly about to stop destroying Federation starships in the name of Romulus. But a friendship like theirs could not be dashed apart by a small decade or quadrant-wide war, even if they thought they hated each other and only got together when forced.

* * *

The sparkles of the transporter beam were still lingering when Vokar ran onto the transporter pad and hugged and kissed Toreth in a very un-protocol conscious way.

"Don't ever worry me like that again!" Vokar said. "From now on, Chairman, no matter what the secret, highly dangerous mission is, I am not letting you out of my sight."

"Relax, Vokar," Toreth said, laughing. "I am fine, aside from needing a shower and a change of clothes. Besides, I the only way that would even be remotely possible would be if we were married, and that hardly sounded like a proposal, at least where I come from." She raised an eyebrow. Vokar laughed.

"Come on, then, Toreth; I told Elaina I would check with her after you and T'Son are beamed on your respective ships," he said.

"Who's Elaina?" Toreth asked, immediately going on the defensive.

"No competition for you, dear, do not worry," Vokar said. "But you feel that way, since the ring is on backorder, how about a romantic picnic from dinner in one of the holodecks tonight?"

"You're joking."

"About the ring? Yes. About dinner? No."

"Okay, sure. T'Son can have Elaina... you know, that sounds just a little bit like Alicia. You don't think..." They walked off down the corridor, ready to recommence the normal paranormal life of the Trekkie Trio.


	11. A Wedding

ILuvHawkeye: I am glad you liked it. Your review made me laugh... hee hee.

Data: I am not a Romulan _yet_. :grumbles about the unfairness of life: But of course I plan to continue, and I just could not leave you all hanging like that. By the way, where are you? You have not e-mailed in ages.

Last chapter! :sobs in agony: But then you all have the sequel to look forward to. It will be posted in the category "Star Trek: Other" since it will be completely away from TOS by then. I am not sure what the title will be, but it will have the words "Trekkie Trio" or just "Trio," and you can always search for me. It will center partly on the Trio and partly on their kids. If anyone has title suggestions, I need them please!

All in all, it was an excellent turnout. More than a few of the Romulans were uncomfortable with some of Toreth's guests, but she _was_ the Chairman of the Tal Shiar, so they could not say anything. Still, it was strange to see _the_ Admiral Kirk, _the_ Captain Spock, _the_ Doctor McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, and T'Son sitting on the left side of the building Toreth had temporarily turned into a Christian church. Qwi herself was not among the guests, but instead stood at the front of the church as the Maid of Honor. Toreth looked radiant as the bride herself, standing beside Vokar in front of the priest (he came from Earth at T'Son's request, since his best friend was getting married and wanted a Christian marriage). There would be a Romulan ceremony in a few days too.

Toreth was happier than she could have ever imagined. Having been best friends since they were eighteen, she and Vokar had only needed three months time dating before they realized they wanted to get married. Now, in Romulus' late fall, their dream was realized. Toreth had kept in touch with the Federation people this time, and invited them to her wedding. And she knew, looking down from heaven, were her family and friends she would have invited had this been the twenty-first century. Vokar's friends and family were there too.

T'Son and Qwi were delighted for their friend. They had (almost) put off their enmity for each other for the occasion. There had been one small incident as they entered the building where T'Son whispered to Qwi in a scary voice, "You'll be next!" Qwi had shoved him into poor Sulu and informed him that she still did not want to get married. He would have made a comeback, but she went off to help Toreth get ready and put on her own dress, and T'Son had to find his seat.

Now Vokar had just finished his vows and Toreth was commencing hers. She was nervous, though she did not show it. She hoped her vows would last longer than her parents'. But looking into Vokar's eyes, she just _knew_ they were meant to be. Her new Romulan life was better than her human one had ever been anyway. And when their lips met, Toreth knew, instinctively, that she was finally where she belonged.

* * *

Much to her annoyance, Qwi caught the bouquet. It did not help that T'Son had come up to her with a grin and said, "Now who's psychic, huh?" It was not like she had tried to catch it or anything. The Romulan women were still not sure what this strange ritual was, so they had not jumped up, and tried to be the nearest to where it would land, like humans. Toreth swore on the name of her position as Chairman that she did not throw it at Qwi on purpose, but Qwi was still not sure she believed her. After all, Toreth _was_ a Romulan... 

"Nice catch," a voice said. Qwi turned around. There behind her stood a human with black hair in a side part and blue eyes. He was grinning.

"Thanks, but I am not planning on getting married," she said with a smile. He was actually nice. A thought suddenly occurred to her.

"How do you know Toreth?" she asked. "I was unaware that she knew many other humans besides me, T'Son, and the Enterprise crewmembers."

"I don't," the man confessed. "I am a civilian traveling on the USS Enterprise. I figured I would beam down for the reception, just for the heck of it. I've never met a Romulan before."

"Trust me, Toreth is scary. She might not be a good 'first Romulan,'" Qwi said with a laugh, looking around nervously for the bride in question. She was surrounded by a group of well-wishers on the other side of the patio though, so she could not have heard. Qwi suspected she would think it a compliment though. The man laughed in genuine delight.

"My name's Ben. Benjamin Pierce. Who are you?" he asked.

"Qwi," Qwi said with another smile. "Friend of the bride for a couple hundred years now... just kidding, of course." Qwi found it easy to talk with Ben. Before long they were engaged in a lively discussion right there.

* * *

Toreth finally broke through the group of well-wishers and stood under a part of the makeshift church that jutted out, providing a bit of shade. T'Son joined her a moment later. Vokar was talking to his mother, and Qwi was sitting on a bench laughing at a joke some guy just told her. The two stood in amiable silence for a moment, watching the guests mingle.

"The Federation people and the Romulans are staying rather separate," T'Son noted. As he was interested in diplomacy, this was a big point to him.

"On the whole, they look happy though," Toreth said. "Not that I can read human or Vulcan or Betazoid, or something emotions, but the Romulans do. You would not believe how much easier it is for me to get along with Romulans than humans. I really was born onto the wrong planet. I joke not. You understand me, right?"

"Of course," T'Son said. "You know, what we agreed on in back in eighth grade really is true. Had you a brother, and had I a younger sister, it would be each other. No wonder a romantic relation when we were fifteen did not work out." He smiled. Toreth smiled too.

"You know, you had better not let Vokar hear you say 'romantic relationship' in my presence. But yeah, you're right. I think I am going to go rescue my husband from his Mom. Talk to you later. I saved you and Qwi seats near me." She walked off, and T'Son watched her go, with no regrets.

* * *

The wedding had started at 1700 hours, and the actual marrying part had not lasted long at all. Toreth was impatient during long ceremonies. Awards days at school were especially tiresome. After that, there was a reception for until about 2000 hours, and then the wedding party took shuttles to the restaurant where they were to eat. It was a beautiful setting, outside, in a large garden. There was a large, partly covered patio where the actual tables were and the gardens stretched out a ways beyond that. It was really a beautiful setting, and it would even prettier when the sun had set fully and the lighting was on to produce just the right effect. Vokar had chosen this place specially. Left to Toreth, the entire wedding probably would have taken place in a castle on top of a snowy mountain and all the guests would have to bundle up in six layers of furs.

In typical Toreth fashion, they did not eat immediately. They would probably not even start eating until 2200 hours, like in Europe. No one complained though, because the snacks at the reception were excellent, and there was the Romulan equivalent of cheese and bread out on the table. And Toreth finally got to talk to Qwi and her friend, whoever he was.

"Toreth! I still cannot believe you threw that stupid bouquet at me!" Qwi said in mock annoyance as the bride drew near.

"What a lovely way to greet the bride, darling," Toreth said sarcastically. "And I swore on my position as Chairman that I was not lying. Who is your friend?"

"Oh, this is Ben Pierce. He is a civilian traveling on Enterprise, but he is going to finish his voyage on the Hawkeye. He beamed down because he wanted to observe Romulan culture and meet some Romulans. He is antimilitary and thus wants to get to know those who are considered the 'enemy,'" Qwi said.

"I see you too have been getting to know each other," Toreth said with a teasing grin. "I can always set an extra place; I'll alert the servers in a second. I am sorry I do not have a little name card in the shape of the symbol of my glorious empire for you- T'Son is going to be so mad when he sees those!" she said with naughty glee. Qwi laughed, knowing that it was always fun to get T'Son back for those years of being annoying to the girls.

At last though, at 2230 hours in fact, they wedding party sat down to eat. The meal itself was very European in nature also- many courses, though all very small, and long intervals of time between courses when the adults talked and the kids ran around in the large garden.

"Well, Toreth, I think I liked being your boyfriend better," Vokar said with a grin as he sat down next to his wife. "Since we have been husband and wife, I have gotten to talk to you exactly three times, with an average of two sentences for those three."

"Don't worry, we have all night after the dinner is over," Toreth said, calmly taking a sip of her drink and pretending to ignore T'Son, two seats down, who had just turned an odd shade of purple. Vokar laughed and nodded.

Dinner was a pleasant affair. Granted, T'Son and Vokar were still not on the best of terms, but they were sitting two seats away from each other, so that did not matter. Qwi spent dinner alternating between talking with Ben and Toreth, for the most part. T'Son talked with Toreth mostly, and Toreth herself talked with everyone.

"How many kids are you guys planning to have?" Qwi asked over the fish course.

"Probably just one," Toreth answered. "I want kids, and Vokar wants kids, but it is just not practical. Not only was I not born with any sort of maternal instinct, but any enemy force would be desperate to capture the Chairman of the Tal Shiar's brat. Have you not wondered why this wedding is so small? Vokar's potential as a target has just leapt sky high." T'Son nodded.

"You know, you two might have kids and create a second 'Trekkie Trio,'" Vokar pointed out.

"How many times do I have to tell you people I am _not_ getting married!?" Qwi asked in annoyance.

"Lots, because no one believes you," T'Son said mildly. She glared at him.

At around 0200 hours, the guests started heading home. By 0400, everyone was gone except the Trio. Vokar went to start the shuttle and warm it up, giving Toreth a moment's privacy with her old friends. All had something to be excited about. T'Son had gotten a call at around 2507 hours. He had been promoted to rear admiral for services in the crisis with the Klingon ship. Toreth was mad because it had interrupted her wedding dinner, but she could not help being happy for him. Qwi was excited because she had, "met a guy who is actually half decent, unlike someone I know, T'Son." And Toreth was... well, she had just gotten married and her name was not Britney.

"Keep in touch, you scheming little Romulan," Qwi said. She flung her arms around Toreth, who was caught off guard, which is not good when one is in five-inch heels for one's wedding. "Name a kid after me!" Qwi said cheerfully after they got back upright.

"Of course not," Toreth said mildly. "My kids are going to have proper Romulan names." She turned to T'Son, who raised his hand in the Vulcan greeting.

"Live long an-" he began before Toreth hugged him.

"You idiot, I am not saying good-bye that formally," she said. To her surprise, he hugged her back. She blew them both a kiss, and spun around and got in the Romulan shuttle where her husband was waiting. The shuttle took off, and the Star fleet officers were beamed away, until the next adventure.

The End (until installment three)


End file.
